TAKE TWO: Is it too late to cancel the season?

Tuesday

Sep 27, 2011 at 12:01 AMSep 27, 2011 at 1:00 PM

Steve Walentik

Remember the discussions of union decertification, an antitrust lawsuit and a request for an injunction as the NFLís owners and their locked-out players argued in the offseason? How about the daily media reports from outside office buildings and courthouses?

Implicit in those reports was the message that we just couldnít live without professional football.

Three weeks into the NFL season that was saved, people on both side of the state of Missouri are asking themselves why they couldnít live without this. Already, the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams have robbed their fans of their enthusiasm for the next 13 Sundays.

The schedule was actually supposed to give the Chiefs a chance to get off to a good start after their surprising division title in 2010. Their home opener came against the Bills, coming off a 4-12 season. Then they headed to Detroit to face a Lions team that, though much improved, was also the least successful franchise in the NFL over the previous decade.

As it turns out, the best way to have success this season is to play the Chiefs, who were routed in the two games by a combined score of 89-10. Adding injury to those insults, they lost star safety Eric Berry and running back Jamaal Charles to season-ending knee injuries.

Somehow, Coach Todd Haleyís team was finally competitive without them in Sundayís 20-17 road loss to the Chargers, so the Rams took their turn getting humiliated. After sticking close against the Eagles and the Giants the first two weeks with star running back Steven Jackson limited to a total of two carries, they endured a 37-7 beatdown by the Ravens that was decided in the first quarter.

So both Missouri teams sit at 0-3. Anybody thinking thatís too small a sample on which to judge a team should know that only three 0-3 teams have reached the postseason since the NFL went to six playoff teams in each conference in 1990.

The good news is the Chiefs and Rams have learned to live without the playoffs, with only one trip between them since 2006.